


Rock Bottom

by Nanenna



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Alternate Universe - Underfell (Undertale), Canon-Typical Violence, Drug Use, Dubious Consent Drug Use, Dubious Consent Medical Procedures, Dubious Ethics, Eventual Happy Ending, Foul Language, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Injury, Injury Recovery, M/M, Major Character Injury, Medical Procedures, Medicinal Drug Use, Mild Language, Permanent Injury, Sign Language, Slow Burn, Suicidal Thoughts, Surgery, Underfell Alphys (Undertale), Underfell Papyrus (Undertale), Underfell Sans (Undertale), Underfell Undyne (Undertale), Underfell W. D. Gaster (Undertale), Underfell W. D. Gaster/Underfell Sans (Undertale), Unhealthy Relationships, W. D. Gaster Is Not Related to Papyrus and Sans, canon names, eventual frenemy coworkers to bashful boyfriends
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-11-10
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:08:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26980414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nanenna/pseuds/Nanenna
Summary: Sans (Underfell) has plenty of time  to consider how he got into this situation as he slowly sinks lower and lower in the ocean, his leaking mana leaving a trail of dirty red behind him as the light fades. He doesn't regret his choice to jump in and help defend his friends and baby brother, the last family he has left. He can't be angry at them, never could. But he can be angry at the stupid fish that tried to eat what's his to protect. So the last thought he has as his battered body settles into the cold, clumpy sand at the bottom of the ocean is simply: "i really hate orcas."
Relationships: W. D. Gaster/Sans
Comments: 28
Kudos: 54





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Underfell](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/763545) by Vic the Underfella. 



> Inspired by [_Sushi Chop Suey_](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13497334/chapters/30953852) (not linked through the site because I’m not sure how DandelionSea would feel about that). If you like mermaids, oviposition, or Swapfellcest you should definitely give this fic a look! I personally love the bold choice to have the whole thing without dialogue, it really enhances the experience.
> 
> So in light of what this is inspired by and my own favorite tropes the uh… the intended OTP starts off really rough. It’s a pretty unhealthy relationship and also there's talk of suicide so if that’s a hard no for you then I do recommend turning back now. Mind the tags and all that.

Gaster swam along slowly, poking at the rocks and sand along the seafloor. The required guard, this one named Nautilie, trailing along behind him with a bored expression practically etched onto her face. If Gaster had the choice he wouldn’t bother with a guard at all, but as their city’s only “doctor” Queen Undyne had declared he had to take a guard with him whenever he left the safety of the city. Mostly he just used them as pack animals, it certainly made it possible for him to go out further and longer on his foraging trips before needing to turn back for being overburdened. He was just inspecting whether a conch shell still had the animal inside it or not when something in the corner of his eye socket caught his attention. He turned his head and dropped the shell in surprise.

Bones! Large ones too, unusually clean for so many of them gathered together. Perhaps a carcass a neighboring pod had dumped here while cleaning out their stores? If that were the case there probably wasn’t any magic to distill from them. Still, such large bones would be a goldmine if they were untouched by apothecary hands, well worth at least looking at in Gaster’s opinion. He swam over to the bones, noting how they were strewn out like an actual body, mostly buried in the recently disturbed silt.

As Gaster checked the remains over for any traps or signs of sea life living within he murmured to himself, “ROUND SKULL, WIDE SHOULDERS, LONG ARMS…”

“What?” Nautilie asked from a respectful distance.

Gaster sighed and looked up at the guard to sign along as he spoke, “I THINK THIS MIGHT BE A HUMAN CARCASS. VERY POTENT. VERY USEFUL.”

“Okay, should I pick it up?”

“MAYBE. I MUST TEST FIRST. NO POINT IF ALREADY DRAINED.” Gaster went back to ignoring the guard, just as well since she didn’t respond anyway, and slowly inched closer to one of the outstretched arms. Amazing the way it was still laid out as if it were alive despite missing all connective tissue, Gaster feared it was simply one of those human skeleton models that had been thrown away for being broken. What a waste of time that would be. He put his hand on the carcass’s outstretched fingers.

The carcass snarled and weakly thrashed. Gaster flit back and away from the apparently still living bones, Nautilie dropped her armful of components and pulled a rusted harpoon from its holster on her back.

“back off ya bottom feeders,” the unknown monster slurred out even as they slumped back into the silt.

“OH,” Gaster said in surprise, he reached out to poke them again, “YOU’RE NOT DEAD AFTER ALL.”

“i ain’t sea foam yet,” the monster mumbled, voice fading out.

Gaster held a hand up to stop Nautilie from nudging them with her harpoon. The monster was clearly on their last fin, so weak Gaster hadn’t even sensed any magic radiating from them. Strangest of all they seemed to understand him despite being face down in the sand and unable to see him sign. Had he even signed? Gaster put his hands behind his back to make sure he didn’t sign. “WHAT IS THE CAUSE OF THIS? ARE YOU INJURED?”

Nautilie raised a brow at Gaster, clearly confused by this exchange. Thankfully she was one of the quiet guards, hence why Gaster often chose her.

“’m dead iz wut i am, jus’ ain’t foam yet,” the monster mumbled, voice blurring and fading out at the end.

How interesting. Gaster hadn’t met another monster that could understand him in years, not since he was a young skeleton and still had a family. He began carefully sweeping the silt and sand away from the injured monster to better inspect them. “HOW SEVERE IS THE INJURY? USUALLY ONLY A STATUS AILMENT CAUSES A SLOW DRAIN ON ONE’S HP.”

“’m a cripple, ya jerk. so if yer not gonna put me outta my misery jus’ go the fuck away!” They twisted to bite out their words at Gaster, who had to wave Nautilie away again. The stranger wasn’t anywhere near close enough to bite Gaster, they had tried to keep their tail still, and rightly so now that Gaster could see it. Still half hidden by a cloud of disturbed silt, Gaster could clearly see there wasn’t a single ounce of ecto-flesh summoned, putting all their bones on display. One of the last vertebrae looked to have been crushed, nothing but shards of bone held together by pure mana faintly glowing an angry red. Below that were the thin, delicate bones that formed the caudal fins, or what was left of them. Most were outright missing, the few left either cracked or broken in half.

It looked incredibly painful. Still, the wound alone wasn’t life threatening unless left unattended for rot and infection to work their way into the exposed mana. Considering the wound wasn’t actively leaking it clearly had had enough time to heal up that much. Which was far too long without any medical attention, in Gaster’s expert opinion.

Gaster moved back up to better look the monster’s torso over now that they were propped up on their arms to glare at him. “IS YOUR TAIL THE ONLY WOUND? OR DID WHATEVER DID THAT DAMAGE ANYTHING ELSE?”

“wha? why’re ya…? what’s it matter t’ya? jus’ foam me or go away!”

“Wait, you can actually understand him?” Nautilie asked incredulously.

Gaster ignored the monster’s confused sputtering as he looked their ribs over. Lots of cracks and fractures, likely from whatever crushed their tail. Probably something with strong jaws. Their ecto-flesh must have been riddled with lacerations, no wonder they just dismissed it all. And the intense pain would explain the suicidal talk, though the fact they aren’t dead yet means they haven’t tried to kill themself, and that meant they likely weren’t ready to die yet. They hadn’t even tried to make them do it for him by attacking the guard or Gaster himself. A good sign, if Gaster’s going to use them it’s better if he doesn’t have to keep them on suicide watch the whole time.

“WHAT’S YOUR NAME?”

“why’s it even matter?”

Gaster simply stared the monster down, when he asked a question he expected an honest answer and it was best this monster start learning that sooner rather than later.

The monster sighed and seemed to deflate, perhaps too tired to keep barking at Gaster or perhaps thinking he intended to use their name to perform some sort of last rites. “’m sans,” they said quietly, voice starting to fade as their eyelids fell to half mast.

Gaster dug around in the little pack he kept on him for emergencies, his fingers brushed against a clam shell, the Intent radiating off it telling him what it contained. He quickly pulled the shell out and opened it, revealing a thick paste inside. He dragged a phalanx through the paste to gather up a generous portion, then held it up to Sans’s teeth, his other hand firmly cradling the back of his skull once he put the clam shell away. “HERE, EAT THIS.”

“why? izza waste of good meds. if yer gonna foam me then jus’ get it over with.”

“DO AS I TELL YOU OR STAY HERE AND LINGER IN PAIN UNTIL SOMETHING MORE MERCIFUL COMES ALONG.”

Sans rolled his eye pips, barely visible for how faint and fuzzy they were, but obligingly parted his shark-like teeth and let Gaster shove the paste into his mouth. Gaster even caught a glimpse of a barely there red tongue flick out and lick up the medicine before the teeth closed.

Gaster turned his attention to Nautilie and began to sign, carefully keeping his hands out of Sans’s line of sight. “THE MEDICINE WILL PUT HIM TO SLEEP.” In a manner of speaking, anyway. “WHEN IT WORKS YOU CARRY HIM BACK.” He paused, then added, “BACK HOME. TO THE CITY.”

She opened her mouth, but before she could say anything Gaster quickly made a shushing motion. “NO, I DO NOT WANT HIM FIGHTING BACK. THE DRUG NEEDS TIME.”

Nautilie huffed, but relaxed and carefully put her harpoon back in its holster before clumsily signing, “Are we saving him?”

“OF COURSE. I HAVE USE FOR HIM.”

“Sickbay?”

It took Gaster a moment to realize just what she meant by the question. “YES, STRAIGHT TO SICK BAY. I HAVE A LOT OF WORK AHEAD OF ME.”

“whadja gimme?” Sans’s question trailed out into a long whine and he sunk into the sand.

“EXCELLENT. NAUTILIE, GATHER HIM UP AND LET US GO.”

Nautilie did as she was told, being surprisingly gentle as she gathered him up. Gaster flitted worriedly back and forth, reminding her to be careful of his ribs, his tail, or his head the entire time. Then she simply floated in place, her usual deadpan expression looking particularly unimpressed as she waited for Gaster to gather up all the ingredients she’d dropped earlier. No point in wasting them!

The journey back was a long one, made even longer by how slowly they had to go to keep Sans’s injuries from getting even worse. They ran into a patrol along the outskirts of the city, and of course the trio insisted on escorting them the rest of the way. Gaster grumbled to himself that they were only tagging along purely out of curiosity, but at least he was able to force one of them to carry his ingredients. Well he’d just kick them out of the sickbay once the group arrived.

It got worse once they entered the actual city, a tall, sloping cliff full of many openings (some natural, some enhanced, and some made entirely through magical means) that led into a twisting, labyrinthine complex of tunnels and chambers left over from when the mountain had been an active volcano many, many years ago. The apothecary and a small group of guards, one of whom was carrying a clearly injured monster who happened to also be a complete stranger would be sure to catch everyone’s attention. As they navigated through the tunnels they were crowded by several curious monsters all shouting questions and having guesses thrown back for answers.

Gaster rushed into the sickbay. It was a rather pleasant little chamber, completely round with sand forming a flat floor and nicely sized for Gaster’s needs. The walls were lined with recessed shelves carved into the rock to hold a variety of medicines Gaster had mixed himself. The ceiling was pockmarked with holes to allow in light and waterflow for the plants (all medicinal) growing along the walls. In the center of the room was a slab of elevated stone with a flat, smooth surface Gaster used as a table for whatever he was working on. In this instance it would act as an operating table.

Gaster motioned for Nautilie to lay Sans on the table, motioned the guard holding his finds to lay them out on an inset shelf deeper than the others that Gaster used as a work bench, then set about ordering everyone else to leave. There may have been some snapping of teeth involved to get his point across. Fortunately the guards took the hint and started clearing out not just the sickbay but the hallway leading to it.

“I’m going to report to Undyne now,” Nautilie said after she had carefully laid out Sans on the table.

“YES, YES, YOU DO THAT.” Gaster absently waved her off, then set about patching Sans back together. He grabbed a container of green magic infused salve, then stopped as he realized it would work for the bare minimum definition of the word but it wouldn’t be _optimal_ for bone. Goodness, aside from tending to a few of his own injuries he’d never needed the sticky, calcium heavy salve skeletons used. He dashed through a curtain of bespelled seaweed that hid the opening to the store room, scrambling about to snatch up his pestle and mortar, some small, clean bones, the bulb of a plant with pain numbing properties, the leaves of another plant just brimming with green magic, a container of mucus, and several other ingredients before hastily crushing them all together.

This wouldn’t be near enough. Gaster glared down at the pitiful amount of salve he was halfway through making, it would do for the kinds of injuries he’d had to treat himself for and even have some left over, but there was no way it would be enough for the sheer amount Sans would need. And this all before he’d even done a full exam. He rushed back out of the store room and over to the sickbay’s entrance, he hurriedly called until he caught a guard’s attention, then started signing so fast he nearly tangled his phalanges together. “GUARD! I NEED BONES. SMALL. MANY OF THEM. HURRY.”

“You uh… just bones?”

“THEY DO NOT HAVE TO BE CLEAN, BUT LESS FLESH IS BETTER.” He paused in thought, “SHELLS WILL WORK TOO. SMALL. EMPTY. ALSO SWIM BLADDERS. BONES ARE BETTER. QUICK!”

The guard nodded and darted off. The other two stayed behind, likely to keep others out, which Gaster fully appreciated even if he didn’t have the time to stop and tell them so. He went back into the room to hastily finish mixing together what he could of the salve. Once that was done he set the mortar on the table, then gathered some wraps and a small blade before beginning the long process of inspecting his patient skull to caudal fins. It was perhaps cruel to give Sans the medicine that didn’t quite put him out for this, but Gaster needed the pain response. Besides, he wouldn’t even remember it when he woke, it was for the best.

Gaster started with the crack over Sans’s right eye. “MUST BE AN OLD INJURY,” he mumbled to himself. “THIN AND ALREADY HEALED, THOUGH SCARRED.” The missing fang though, that was freshly lost and likely already sea foam dancing drearily on the surface. Gaster dabbed a little salve on the stressed bone around the missing tooth, then pressed a small strip of wrap to it.

The process continued as Gaster worked his way down Sans’s body, slowly and methodically testing for any gasps or whimpers from his patient. Any injury was treated with salve then an appropriately sized strip of wrap to seal it in place. Fortunately the guard returned with the requested ingredients before Gaster ran out of his batch. There was a pause as Gaster had the guard help him mix up a new batch, then he kept the guard around to help him manipulate and hold Sans’s body as the inspection continued.

“NOT MUCH DAMAGE BETWEEN THE RIBS AND THE CRUSHED VERTEBRA, LIKELY HE STILL HAD ECTO DURING THE EVENT THAT CAUSED ALL THIS.”

The guard sighed, but they seemed to have figured out that Gaster wasn’t going to bother signing his thoughts.

The fractured vertebra was still just as much a mess as when he’d first seen it. Barely touching it caused Sans to groan and hiss in pain. Gaster almost wasn’t sure it would be worth keeping, there were so many missing pieces and the raw mana holding it together looked infected. Still, if he could save it he should try. But it really would be beyond cruel to work on it without putting Sans fully out. He would finish the inspection before touching it. Gaster moved down to the mangled rays and delicately touched a cracked one, Sans didn’t respond at all. His breathing didn’t even change. Gaster grimaced, “I HAD FEARED AS MUCH.”

He carefully inspected the rest of the remaining caudal rays, the broken ends already starting to fizz slightly. Sans still didn’t respond. Gaster moved onto the hypurals, no response. The last vertebra, again no response. Gaster went back to the badly crushed vertebra and poked the next one in line, even going so far as to press a claw into the surface. Still no response. It was clear there was no saving the end of Sans’s tail.

Gaster looked down at the crushed vertebra and the broken fins behind it. Sans would never swim again, even if he could miraculously save the crushed vertebra more than half of the caudal fins were already gone. Sans had already asked for death, it would be cruel to force him to live on with such an injury.

Gaster had never been merciful.

He plucked a pod from one of his medical plants, then with the free hand he parted Sans’s jaws and slipped the pod inside. He forced Sans’s mouth to close, causing the pod to pop and the medicine inside to absorb into Sans’s ley lines. He waited for Sans’s breathing to slow and grow shallow, then tested whether he would respond to a poke to the crushed vertebra. No response, excellent. Gaster turned to the guard and held up his hands, “HOLD HIM DOWN.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first nine chapters have had their rough drafts done for a while so they should actually be coming out pretty quickly. Work’s kicking my ass lately so I can’t promise I’ll be as fast as Skerb, but fairly quickly. Quick note: sea monsters turning to sea foam rather than dust is ripped off from Hans Christian Anderson himself, I cannot recommend the original Little Mermaid because that ending is awful but he had some really interesting world building.
> 
> Also Gaster's views do not reflect my own, he has some pretty twisted thoughts on "mercy" and what makes a person worthwhile. Don't be like him. Don't be like any of the characters in this fic, they're all pretty messed up.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Do mermaids dream of electric eels?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, that was the worst of it! I mean… aside from the continuing consequences of what Gaster chose to do. Anyway, the characters continue to have a very crude attitude towards death in general and suicide specifically, so please be aware of that before reading. Thank you.

The next morning Gaster set about his usual routine: wake up, groom, swing by the galley on his way to sickbay. Well, not really on the way. It was actually in a pretty inconvenient direction, he had to go completely the opposite way. But it couldn’t be helped. With a medium sized stone bowl (a shimmering barrier over the top keeping the crowd of young, small snails and their sea lettuce inside) in hand and a sack now full of fish bones, he continued on his way to sickbay.

Once through the doorway Gaster anxiously looked the table over, Sans was still laid out, completely prone and ribs rising and falling shallowly. A guard was sitting nearby on the floor with their back against a wall, a different guard than Gaster had left there the night before to make sure Sans didn’t stop breathing or fidget at his bandages. Gaster put down the bowl and sack on his work bench, then turned to the guard, “HOW’S THE PATIENT?”

“What? Oh uh… guess you wanna know how he’s doing.”

Gaster just stared at the guard blankly.

“He’s still sleeping,” the guard said needlessly, “he’s been laying there like a flatfish all night.”

Gaster nodded, he had expected as much. Most patients would have at least moved in their sleep, or even started to wake by now, but considering the condition Sans had been in it wasn’t the least bit surprising the medicines Gaster had fed him were still affecting him.

“VERY WELL, YOU ARE DISMISSED.”

“Sure, easiest night watch I’ve ever had to do.” The guard got up and stretched before drifting closer, looking Sans over as Gaster started checking the wraps. “So uh… what’s his story?”

Gaster sighed and left off what he was doing so he could sign at the guard. “I DO NOT KNOW. NOW GO AWAY. I AM BUSY.” He bent back over Sans, getting back to work.

“Yeah, he looks like he’ll keep ya busy for a while. It’s just… I gotta go report to Undyne, yanno?”

“SO GO DO THAT ALREADY AND LET ME GET BACK TO WORK!” Gaster snapped, pointing out the entryway rather than signing.

“Alright, I get the picture.” The guard held his hands up in surrender and backed away. “Good luck I guess???” He finally left.

“GOOD RIDDANCE,” Gaster muttered as he carefully checked Sans over. “DAMN NOSY GUARDS, CAN’T THEY JUST LET A MONSTER WORK IN PEACE?” Gaster sighed, then focused his whole attention on Sans. He was still, in a word, a complete mess. To be expected, it had been less than a day since the injuries had first been tended to, for now he just focused on changing out the bandages and healing salve for fresh ones and make sure the splints he’d had to tie on were still firmly in their proper place. Since the injuries were all purely physical, a sign that whatever had done this was an animal and not another monster, the only thing green magic could really do was boost Sans’s own natural healing process. Judging by how much of the salve had been absorbed his body was in desperate need of the boost. “WE’LL JUST HAVE TO GET SOME FOOD INTO YOU FOR THAT EXTRA BOOST.”

But before he could do that he had one last injury to check. He hesitated at the new tip of Sans’s tail, he knew that he’d slathered on enough salve the night before to keep the area numb for a while yet, and that even if not the pain of one clean cut should be far more bearable than the shattered vertebra he’d removed, and yet…

Gaster carefully, reluctantly peeled back the wrapping to look the tail over. Predictably most of the salve had been absorbed, leaving behind the crumbling, “dried” remains against a straight, sharply cut layer of cartilage glowing an angry red. “I DO HOPE THIS WON’T LEAVE YOU IN PAIN THE REST OF YOUR LIFE,” Gaster sighed out. He could strip the delicate cartilage off the end of the now last vertebra, but that would leave the mana and severed ley lines within painfully exposed, even if they were no longer needed.

Gaster carefully wiped off the spent salve as quickly as possible before applying a generous amount of fresh salve and wrapping the tail in fresh bandages. There went the last of his supply from the night before, he had a long day of grinding and mixing ahead of him. With another sigh Gaster dropped the spent bandages on top of the already overflowing waste bucket, “THE FARM SNAILS WILL EAT WELL TONIGHT,” and moved over to the work bench. He completely ignored the bowl in favor of the sack, from within he pulled out a carefully wrapped package, plucked off the couple little bones clinging to it, then pushed the sack aside in favor of unwrapping the package.

Inside was a fish fillet, still radiating heat from where it had been boiled over one of the many vents found throughout the city. Gaster mourned the loss of his breakfast, it looked and smelled downright delicious but since it had been cooked by a monster it was now brimming with green magic that Sans needed. He settled himself on a corner of the table near Sans’s head and set about stripping off small bits of flesh and dropping them into Sans’s gaping maw.

It was as he was feeding some of the last few strips of meat to Sans (and still watching it turn to motes of light that seemed to get sucked into the empty space inside his jaws) that Undyne entered the chamber. Loudly. Like she always did.

“What’s up?! I heard you got yourself a new little play thing!”

Gaster grumbled and put down the last corner of the fillet, then turned his attention to Undyne. “HELLO, YOUR MAJESTY.”

“Ugh! I **hate** it when anyone calls me that!” Undyne threw her hands in the air, then settled them to cross across her chest as she leaned against the nearest wall, one ankle kicked over the other.

“NOT A PLAYTHING.”

“Yeah, you’re not the type to rescue someone just because they got a pretty face. Not that this one has a pretty face.” Undyne grimaced as she looked Sans over. “Or maybe they do? What makes a skeleton pretty?”

“THE SAME THING THAT MAKES ALL MONSTER PRETTY: SYMMETRY AND LACK OF DEFORMITIES.”

“Yeah, well… do scars count? I think they’re pretty cool. I dunno, doesn’t really matter I guess, not like another skeleton’s going to come along and ask to be your mate.”

“HE IS NOT MY MATE!” Gaster growled angrily as he shaped the signs sharply and precisely, emphasizing the “not” with exaggerated care.

“You say that, but I dunno what else you’d rescue a cripple for. Nautilie said he asked for a mercy killing?”

“FROM THE SOUND OF IT NAUTILIE SAID A LOT MORE THAN THAT.”

“That really is all Nautilie said, she doesn’t talk much. I figured that’s why you two get along so well.”

Gaster grumbled about them not actually being friends, but otherwise couldn’t disagree.

“It was the others that said he’s your mate.” Undyne grinned broadly at him, showing off all her jagged teeth.

Gaster rolled his eyes so hard he was surprised the pips didn’t pop right out and roll away. “THEY ARE FOOLS.”

“Okay, so if he’s not your mate,” Undyne said with an inflection that left “yet” unsaid only by technicality, “then why did you rescue him? It’s not like you to be so altruistic.”

“I HAVE USE FOR HIM. HE WILL MAKE AN EXCELLENT ASSISTANT. I THINK.”

“Really? Why do you think that?”

Gaster grinned widely, showing off his own sharp teeth, “NAUTILIE KNOWS.”

“Ugh, fine! **Be** secretive, see if I care!” With that she stormed out of sickbay, scarlet fins flailing wildly. Gaster smirked as he bent back over his task.

It was later in the day, as Gaster was grinding up more components into that healing salve and muttering to himself about how much work Sans was making for him, that Undyne returned with the biggest, smuggest, sharpest smirk he’d ever seen stretched wide across her face. “So,” Undyne started in a far too casual voice.

Gaster shoved the pestle and mortar into her hands, “I CANNOT TALK AND WORK AT THE SAME TIME. IF YOU WANT TO TALK START GRINDING.”

“Sure, fine, whatever.” She huffed and moved to sit on the workbench, then started grinding with great vigor, the mortar held steady between her legs. Gaster was actually a little jealous. “So,” Undyne started again, far less casually this time, “Nautilie said this guy, Sans was it? Can actually understand you?”

“YES, HE SEEMED TO UNDERSTAND ME.”

“And that’s why you think he’ll make a good assistant.”

“I DO NOT CARE IF HE IS A TERRIBLE ASSISTANT SO LONG AS HE IS A GOOD TRANSLATOR.”

“Yeah, it would make a lot of things easier for… everyone I guess.”

“THINGS LIKE THIS CONVERSATION. RIGHT NOW.”

“ **Hell yeah!** I wouldn’t have to sit here and grind this shit up for you! Hell, when he’s better that guy can grind up all your stuff for you.”

“I HAD CONSIDERED THAT, YES.”

“And I guess his mug won’t be so bad to stare at every day.”

“I WILL LIKELY GET USED TO IT.”

“Fuhuhu! You know what they say, **familiarity makes the Soul grow fonder**!”

“I AM VERY SURE NO ONE SAYS THAT.”

“I just said it!”

“YOU DO NOT COUNT.”

“Hey! I’m the queen, that means I double count!”

“YES, YOUR MAJESTY,” Gaster signed with a sardonic grin on his skull.

Undyne rolled her eyes. “So, since I’m here I might as well do my regular, boring check in. First of all, will he,” she nodded in Sans’s direction, “get in the way of your regular work?”

“HE WILL NOT BE EASY TO WORK AROUND IF THERE IS AN EMERGENCY IN THE NEAR FUTURE. SO TRY NOT TO GET IN A FIGHT WITH A SWARM OF SHARKS.”

“For how long?”

“THREE DAYS AT LEAST. MORE LIKELY A WEEK.”

“Okay. Now then, how are supplies?”

“SINCE MY FORAGING WAS INTERRUPTED I WILL NEED TO GO BACK OUT FOR MORE ONCE HE,” Gaster pointed to Sans for lack of a name sign (yet,) “IS STABLE.”

“And the supplies that are farmed?”

“A GOOD HARVEST THIS TIME. PLENTY IN STOCK.”

“Even with our increasing numbers? People keep moving into the city, some want to build homes at the foot of the cliff.” Undyne sighed and ran a hand over her head, stopping at the base of her ponytail. “More and more people I have to be responsible for, you have enough supplies to keep up?”

“YES. THE FARMERS HAVE BEEN EXPANDING AS WELL.”

“That’s good. And you? Are you able to keep up?”

“OF COURSE.”

“I mean it, more people means more injuries and illnesses. Are there more people than you can help in a day?”

“I HAVE NOT HAD THAT PROBLEM YET.”

“But you think you will?”

Gaster kept his silence on that one.

Undyne sighed, “I know you just got this guy for an assistant, but we don’t even know how good he’ll be at helping people yet. I can arrange for an apprentice-”

“EVEN IF I WANTED AN APPRENTICE, NOW IS NOT A GOOD TIME. LET US SEE HOW HE DOES FIRST.”

“Yeah, fine. But seriously, at the rate we’re going we’re gonna need another apothecary soon. Or a healer, if we can find one. And if he’s a good translator it’ll make teaching someone easier, right?”

“GIVE HIM A LITTLE TIME TO HEAL AND SETTLE. THEN WE CAN DISCUSS THIS.”

“Alright, that’s fair.” Undyne set aside the mortar and pestle, then got up and stretched, her spine giving off several faint cracks and pops. “And I got other people to check in with today, so I’ll see you around.”

“GOOD LUCK,” Gaster offered, then watched as she darted from the room.

The rest of the day was fairly quiet, aside from the many, many nosy monsters that showed up simply to sate their curiosity. Okay, so it wasn’t quiet or peaceful at all, but Sans was. Mostly. He woke up a few times, groggy and confused. Gaster managed to coax him to eat a few snails before he fell back asleep each time. That was fine, good even. Sleep meant he was healing.

Gaster was in need of some sleep himself. With a yawn he tucked away the last of his tools for the night and went to fetch a guard, giving them instructions to make sure Sans kept breathing, try to get him to eat if he wakes, and come get Gaster if anything else happened. Then he made his way to the mess hall for a quick bite before heading home for a good night’s rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I personally think of salves as being like an ointment (thin and “watery”), but it looks like they tend to be more like uh… butter or chapstick in consistency? So yeah, like a thick paste. I dunno, I’m a writer! I agonize over which words to use.
> 
> Okay, so in this Undyne doesn’t have a mermaid tail like Gaster and Sans. Think of her as like a Zora without the head tail, and then tack on a bunch of red beta fish fins.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Every journey begins with the first step.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, you know how I said this fic starts awful and works its way towards a fluffy ending? No? Well… I thought I said that. Anyway! We’re still in the awful bit. Things will get better soon, but uh… the characters are still casually calloused and dismissive of suicide. And a generally bad attitude towards disabilities. Technically they always will be, but soon they won’t actively be talking about it. Also apologies for the way Red talks, he’ll be switched back to a much more readable slur soon. Just needs to recover a little first.

It was around the middle of the next day that Sans finally woke with some coherency. Gaster had thought it was merely the usual confusion and pained lethargy Sans was responding to when he woke and stuttering asked, “wha’… where…?” without actually asking any real questions.

Gaster picked up a snail and deftly plucked it from its shell, offering it up to Sans, “HERE, EAT THIS.”

“wazzit? who’re…?” Sans attempted to turn his head away, which really just meant it kind of flopped over on the table.

Gaster gently cupped the back of Sans’s skull and turned him to face up again, keeping the snail right at his teeth. “COME NOW, IT’S JUST A SNAIL, THE SAME AS THE LAST TIME. EAT IT.”

Sans’s lone pip rolled around in his orbit before pointing at Gaster, so fuzzy and diffuse Gaster wasn’t even sure how much he could actually see. “yer tha’ guy… ya wuz s’possss… wha’? why’m i here?”

“I BROUGHT YOU BACK HOME WITH ME, WE’RE IN THE SICKBAY RIGHT NOW. YOU NEED TO EAT NOW, DON’T MAKE ME FORCE YOU.”

Sans’s relatively good hand scrabbled weakly at the table below him, “’m s’pposed t’ be dead!”

Gaster huffed and leaned back to glare down at his patient, one hand poised to sign sharply along with his words, “YOU WERE CERTAINLY WELL ON YOUR WAY. IT’S QUITE THE FEAT, ACTUALLY, THE WAY I KEPT YOUR SORRY TAIL ALIVE!” Gaster cringed internally at that, perhaps not best to bring up Sans’s mangled tail so casually. “AND I INTEND TO KEEP YOU ALIVE FOR A LONG WHILE YET AND SO HELP ME IF I HAVE TO TIE YOU DOWN AND FORCE FEED YOU I WILL!”

Sans grumbled, then started struggling to sit up.

Gaster rolled his eye pips, then put a gentle but firm hand on the less injured shoulder. “STAY DOWN, YOU’LL ONLY AGGRAVATE YOUR INJURIES.”

“i c’n feed m’self.”

“NOT HARDLY.”

“i’m not a baby bones,” Sans snapped.

“NO, YOU’RE A BADLY INJURED ADULT, WHICH ARE ALWAYS WORSE THAN ACTUAL BABY BONES.” He held the snail up to Sans’s teeth again, “NOW EAT.”

Sans resisted, still trying to sit up before giving up and letting Gaster feed him. While Sans worked on absorbing the first snail Gaster grabbed another and plucked it from its shell before immediately putting it against Sans’s teeth. Fortunately he didn’t fight it this time and allowed himself to be fed, though he had an impressive glare on his face.

“yer not gonna keep this up, are ya?”

“OF COURSE NOT, I HAVE NO DESIRE TO HAND FEED YOU. THIS IS ONLY UNTIL YOU’VE REGAINED ENOUGH STRENGTH TO FEED YOURSELF.”

“good, ‘cause ‘m not some baby bones.”

“LESS TALKING, MORE EATING.”

Sans angrily ate three more snails, glaring at Gaster the whole time. Gaster couldn’t help smiling, that was the most snails he’d managed to get Sans to eat in one sitting since he’d brought him here. the anger was a good sign too, an angry monster was one that still had a lot of fight left in them.

“s’jus’ tempery…” Sans slurred as Gaster tried to coax him to eat just one more snail before the medicines and his own lethargy dragged him back under. “i c’n… i c’n feed m’self…”

“OF COURSE, OF COURSE. I DON’T HAVE ANY DESIRE TO HAND FEED YOU. ONCE YOU’RE RECOVERED I WILL NEVER HAND FEED YOU AGAIN.” Unless Sans managed to get himself injured to the point of needing to be hand fed. After all, he had managed to do it once already.

Sans mumbled something else Gaster didn’t quite catch before drifting back off, reserves glutted enough from his recent meal for his body to focus on healing again. Which was the perfect time for Gaster to eat his own lunch before getting back to his usual work.

* * *

Gaster was attending to a patient who’d had a tooth knocked out (which had fortunately been found and preserved before turning to foam) when Sans woke again. The sound of bone scraping over stone and muffled grunts were all the warning he had of Sans waking. Lucky for Gaster the fact his hands were in his patient’s mouth kept the patient from prattling on about nothing while he worked and could thus hear the tiny sounds of Sans’s waking.

“ONE MOMENT, SANS, I’M WITH ANOTHER PATIENT AT THE MOMENT.”

“Whaugh?” The patient asked, a rather idiotic thing to do with Gaster’s hands in their mouth.

“patient?” Sans asked, voice almost too soft to hear. “right… sickbay…” He trailed off, though there were more scraping sounds. Likely Sans being a stubborn fool and continuing to try to move despite Gaster warning him not too just a couple hours ago.

Gaster quickly finished reattaching the tooth, using a generous amount of magic to fix it into place and keep it there until the ley lines reconnected. Then he pulled back to give himself enough space to sign at the patient, “WILL BE FRAGILE UNTIL IT HEALS. MONSTER FOOD ONLY. NO FIGHTING. COME BACK IN TWO DAYS.”

“Yeah, sure, thanks doc.”

Gaster frowned, “THOSE ARE THE CARELESS WORDS OF SOMEONE WHO DOESN’T LISTEN AND WILL EAT TOUGH FOODS AND GET PUNCHED IN THE FACE. AGAIN.”

“Huh?”

Gaster sighed, then shooed the patient out. Once they were gone he grabbed the bowl of snails and hovered over Sans, who was indeed struggling to sit up. Gaster pushed him back down, “YOUR WOUNDS WERE QUITE EXTENSIVE, IT’LL BE A WHILE YET BEFORE YOU HAVE THE STRENGTH TO SPARE FOR ANYTHING OTHER THAN RECOVERING.”

“exten-” Sans started to ask before laughing bitterly, “i’m s’posed to be dead!”

“ONLY BECAUSE YOU STUBBORNLY TRIED TO DIE.” He had plucked a snail from its shell and held it up to Sans. “NOW EAT, YOUR RESERVES WERE DANGEROUSLY LOW WHEN I FOUND YOU.”

Sans turned his head away and snarled, “why the fuck didja even bother savin’ me? it’s a waste-a time an’ effort an’ hard earned s’plies that can go to a monster that ain’t a fuckin’ cripple!”

Gaster thinks he’s starting to understand. While painful, none of Sans’s injuries were severe enough to actually be life threatening before they were terribly neglected. He had been slowly starving to death while in constant pain from injuries that were festering rather than healing. He was trying to die in the slowest way possible.

“what use could i possibly have?” Sans continued in a more subdued tone. Oops, had Gaster been caught in his own thoughts too long? “the fuck wouldja need a cripple ‘round fer? what could be worth all this food an’ meds, huh?” Sans’s voice was building back up, “what am i gonna do when I’m healed? stand guard? babysit the fingerlings too young to out swim a monster that can’t fuckin’ swim?! or am i supposed to live the rest of my life leachin’ offa yer _generosity_?” He sneered the last word like it left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Gaster leaned back, withdrawing the snail for the moment. He would need to tread carefully if he didn’t want Sans to slide into self destructive behavior as a poor coping mechanism. He held up his hands to sign along with his words, then shook his head and dropped them when he remembered Sans didn’t need them. “DON’T BE RIDICULOUS, WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT PURELY FOR ALTRUISM? I CERTAINLY WOULDN’T, I HAVE A USE FOR YOU AND IT’S FAR MORE IMPORTANT THAN SOMETHING ANY JELLYFISH BRAINED OAF CAN DO WHILE PICKING THEIR NOSE.”

“yeah?” Sans seemed to deflate, his eye sockets lowering to half mast. As Gaster suspected he didn’t have the energy to spare to be angry for long.

“YES, THIS ISN’T OUT OF PITY OR OBLIGATION OR ANY OTHER SEA SLUG REASON YOU OR ANY OTHER IMBECILE CAN COME UP WITH. NOW EAT, YOU WERE HALF STARVED WHEN I FOUND YOU, YOU WON’T BE IN ANY CONDITION FOR SERIOUS CONVERSATIONS FOR A LITTLE LONGER.” He held the snail up to Sans’s teeth again.

“but you’ll explain yer shit?”

“WHEN YOU CAN STAY AWAKE FOR LONGER THAN A HANDFUL OF MINUTES AT A TIME I WILL EXPLAIN EVERYTHING TO YOU. NOW EAT.”

“i’ll hold ya to it,” Sans grumbled before finally eating the snail. He was sluggish as he quietly accepted the rest of the snails Gaster was quickly trying to stuff into his mouth before he drifted back to sleep. The last one was torn up and half absorbed when Sans started snoring gently.

Gaster sighed before digging the half eaten snail out of Sans’s mouth and tossing it at the scraps pail. “BETTER TO NOT LET HIM CHOKE ON IT.”

* * *

It was evening when Sans woke with some coherency again, as Gaster was alternating popping a crab apple slice into Sans’s mouth and eating one himself. Gaster honestly expected him to be out for a bit longer and was surprised when the absorption of the latest slice caused Sans to snort and flail weakly.

“what? what? ya tryna fight?!” Sans weakly struggled to sit up, pip rolling wildly around his orbit.

Gaster looked down at him curiously from where he’d darted out of range. “IT WAS JUST DINNER, NO NEED TO BE SO HOSTILE.”

“ya were feedin’ me… while i was sleepin’?!”

“YES! AS I **STATED EARLIER** ,” Gaster leaned hard on those words while glaring down at Sans, “YOU WERE HALF STARVED WHEN I FOUND YOU. A HANDFUL OF SNAILS A FEW TIMES A DAY ARE NOT GOING TO BE ENOUGH.”

“at least it weren’t more snails,” Sans sneered.

“OF COURSE NOT, SNAILS AREN’T MONSTER FOOD. IF YOU’RE AWAKE I DO HAVE A FEW MORE SNAILS RIGHT HERE.”

“don’t ya got any real food?”

“SNAILS ARE REAL FOOD,” Gaster said in confusion as he drifted back down and picked up the bowl of snails.

“yeah, fer baby bones. don’t ya got any fish or crabs or anything but more snails?”

“I SUPPOSE THE FLAVOR WOULD GET MONOTONOUS AFTER A WHILE, BUT THEY ARE ALSO HIGHLY NUTRITIOUS AND EASY TO ABSORB. SO NO, I DON’T HAVE ANYTHING ELSE BESIDES THE CRAB APPLES YOU INTERRUPTED ME FEEDING YOU.”

“fine, anything’s better ‘n snails right now.” Sans started trying to sit up. Again.

Gaster pushed him back down. Again. “APPLE SLICES IT IS, SO LAY BACK.”

“i can feed myself!”

“PERHAPS TOMORROW.” Gaster put down the bowl and picked the plate of sliced crab apples back up. “DO YOU NOT LISTEN? IF YOU INSIST ON DEFYING YOUR DOCTOR’S ORDERS I’LL GIVE YOU SNAILS INSTEAD.”

“pushy, ain’tcha?” Sans made a dismissive sound, but relaxed back onto the table.

“YOU’RE QUITE THE PROVOKING MONSTER.”

“heh, maybe so. or maybe yer just bossy.” Sans laughed at that, then looked sad. Gaster ignored that in favor of trying to shove crab apple slices into his mouth. “so… what’s yer name?” Sans asked between slices.

Gaster paused at that, had he really not introduced himself yet? “WINGDINGS GASTER, LOCAL APOTHECARY. THOUGH MOST PEOPLE JUST CALL ME GASTER.”

Sans nodded, letting himself be fed quietly after that. He actually ate the entirety of the rest of the crab apple slices, leaving nothing for the rest of Gaster’s dinner. ah well, it was more important to get Sans’s reserves topped back up, he could always stop by the mess for dinner.

“THAT WAS THE LAST SLICE, ALL I HAVE LEFT ARE SNAILS.”

“man, fuck snails,” Sans slurred tiredly.

“I WOULD RATHER NOT.”

Sans barked a laugh at that.

“i’ll hold ya to it,” Sans mumbled, words fading as his orbits drooped.

Gaster waited a moment, watching as Sans’s breaths evened out. Once sure he was asleep, he went and found a guard to watch him again. A different one, so he had to painstakingly give the instructions all over again along with the warning Sans might refuse the snails but if he’s awake he needs to eat.

Then Gaster finally, finally got to head to the mess hall and get himself a proper meal. And just his luck, after getting his dinner he spotted Marina, the midwife, lounging at one of the tables. He quickly went over to join her.

“MARINA, HELLO. IT’S BEEN QUITE A WHILE.” He couldn’t sign with his hands full, he spoke more to get her attention than anything as he settled down.

“Gaster, so good to see you. How’ve you been?” she sat up straighter as he settled in across from her, her tentacles shifting into more comfortable positions.

“I HAVE BEEN WELL,” Gaster signed. “YOU?”

“A bit busy, quite a few babies were just born and they’ve kept me rushing about.” Marina laughed, bringing out all the lines around her large eyes. “What about you? How’s your special patient?” She winked, clearly she’d heard all the rumors.

“RECOVERING. HE ACTUALLY SPOKE TODAY.”

“That’s some good news, what’s he like?”

“GROUCHY.”

Marina laughed, “Aren’t they all? Tell me all about it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Red is full of piss and vinegar, as they say. XD It’s a good sign, he’s a fighter and isn’t going to let himself Fall Down anytime soon. And Marina is an… uh… octomaid? Octotaur? Merocto? She’s an octopus monster. She and Gaster get along because they both commiserate about their patients and he makes potions for her. One might even consider them… friends?


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First impressions are everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for brief mentions of violent and animal death.

The next morning Gaster was a bit late to arrive at sickbay, but considering all the rushing around he’d had to do it was pretty understandable. He swam into the room to find Sans with his torso rolled onto one side, his uninjured arm propping him up at the elbow as he looked around, though his head was having trouble staying steady. Well after everything he’d been through it wasn’t surprising he was weaker than a newborn sardine. Gaster set down the bowl containing Sans’s breakfast and lunch, then beckoned for the muscle he’d brought to come in. Undyne swam into the room, the water churning around her.

Gaster clasped his hands behind his back, unsure what else to do with them when trying very hard not to sign. “SANS, THIS IS QUEEN UNDYNE,” as Gaster spoke she was looking him up and down with a cocked brow, “RULER OF THIS CITY AND QUITE A BIT OF TERRITORY AROUND IT.”

“oh, huh.” Sans looked Undyne up and down the same way she just had Gaster, likely taking in her thin, wiry frame covered in pale scars. “that’s uh… that’s pretty cool.”

“Yeah! You bet your tail I’m pretty cool!” She grinned widely at Sans as she posed.

“SHE WANTED TO MEET YOU, SINCE YOU’RE GOING TO BE LIVING HERE FROM NOW ON. SHE WAS ALSO GRACIOUS ENOUGH TO HELP MOVE YOU OVER TO THE WORKBENCH OVER THERE.” He motioned to the work bench near the back. It was still cleared off from the previous night and deep enough to act as a chair (as Undyne had already demonstrated that the last time she’d visited).

Sans twisted around to look at the bench, then back at Undyne. “oh shell yeah, that sounds just beachy.”

Undyne’s eyes narrowed as she glared down at Sans, “Was that a pun?”

“I BELIEVE THAT WAS TWO PUNS.”

“Oh my god! Are you going to start signing or is he going to start translating? Because I’m SICK of having no idea what you’re saying!”

“wait, ya can’t understand him?”

“OF COURSE NOT! He just makes all these weird… sounds! Instead of talking!”

“MY, HOW ELOQUENT. TRULY YOU ARE THE EPITOME OF POETRY AND CLEVER WORDPLAY.”

“What’s he saying?!” Undyne demanded of Sans while gesturing wildly at Gaster.

“uh… he said ya talk real nice, but he was super sarcastic.”

“WELL AT LEAST YOU’RE CONCISE, WE’LL WORK ON IT.”

“fer real, ya seriously can’t understand him?”

Undyne made a frustrated noise, “No! What I don’t get is why you can.”

“i mean… he’s got a pretty thick accent but he ain’t **that** hard to understand.”

“Seriously? You just hear an accent?”

“maybe it’s a skeleton thing????”

“JUST AS ELOQUENT AS HER MAJESTY.”

“I can still hear the sarcasm,” Undyne bit back.

“shut up the botha yas! it’s… it’s gotta be a skeleton thing! it’s ‘cause of the way we use magic to talk an’ we uh… hear with… magic?” Sans trailed off towards the end, seemingly unsure of himself but also already tired out from just that little bit of conversation and the brief flare of temper.

“YES, THAT’S ALL VERY TRUE. SKELETON BIOLOGY IS WELL… A CONTRADICTION ACTUALLY BECAUSE MONSTERS AREN’T PHYSICAL AND DON’T HAVE BIOLOGY.”

“ya rescued me to be yer translator,” Sans drawled as he slumped.

“VERY GOOD!” Gaster couldn’t help giving Sans a small applause and a wide grin.

“Yeah,” Undyne confirmed, “he told me as much when he was still patching you back together.”

“why the fuck didja do that whole song an’ dance insteada just tellin’ me?”

“IT HAS MORE IMPACT THIS WAY.”

“What’d he say?”

Sans sighed like a drama queen, “he says it ‘has more impact’ like that.” Sans settled back on the table, rolling onto his back and throwing his good arm over his sockets. Gaster frowned, it seemed Sans had hit his limit for the morning. Still, already much better than he’d been yesterday.

Gaster moved in front of Undyne, hands already poised to sign along, “MOVE HIM OVER THERE.”

“oh right, yer s’posed to move me over to the wall bench thingy.”

Undyne gave a shrug, “Sure, whatever.” She unceremoniously picked Sans up, causing Sans to grunt in pain and Gaster to warn her to be careful with him. Then she far more gently placed him on the bench. “There, piece of cake! Ask me to do something hard next time.”

“it was pretty hard on me,” Sans grumbled as he tried to settle more comfortably.

“PLEASE BE MORE GENTLE WHEN YOU MOVE HIM BACK TONIGHT. OR HAVE SOMEONE ELSE DO IT. IN FACT THAT WOULD BE BETTER.”

“yer not gonna have someone creep on me sleepin’ again, are ya?”

Undyne guffawed at that. “What’s the matter? Little guppy doesn’t like being babysat at night?”

“’s creepy,” Sans slurred as he slumped deeper into the bench, listing dangerously to the side. His socket lids fell to half mast.

“YOU’RE NOT ALLOWED TO SLEEP YET, I HAVE YOUR SNAIL FREE BREAKFAST WAITING STILL.”

Sans perked up at that, “really?”

“YES, BUT IT’S NOT MONSTER FOOD SO YOU NEED TO BE AWAKE. YOU CAN SLEEP AFTER YOU EAT.” Gaster turned to Undyne, “THE PATIENT NEEDS REST. COME BACK LATER. TWO HOURS.”

Undyne threw her hands up, “WHAT?! The whole point of me coming here was to ask my newest citizen some questions!”

“SOME SHOULD HAVE BEEN ANSWERED ALREADY. HE NEEDS REST. LOTS OF REST. TWO HOURS AT LEAST.”

“yeah, the patient ain’t even had breakfast yet.”

“Fine! But only because I got other stuff that needs doing too.” Undyne rolled her eyes before storming out of the room. Gaster will never understand how she could manage to swim loudly.

Sans chortled softly to himself. “so, what’s fer breakfast?”

“CLAMS BOILED OVER A VOLCANIC VENT.”

“ya know, i was gonna make a joke ‘bout how they’re almost the same thing but the boiled bit makes all the difference. gimme!”

Gaster grabbed up the bowl of clams from where he’d set it down and swam over, holding up a half shell to Sans’s teeth. Sans scowled and weakly lifted his good arm, trying to grab the clam from him. Gaster sighed and put the bowl down next to Sans on the bench, then held up Sans’s hand so it was supported by his own before plopping the first clam in it. He could let Sans have the illusion of feeding himself at least, hopefully it’ll be enough that he’ll stop whining so much for a while.

Thankfully Sans was more interested in eating than talking, happily slurping down the clams as quickly as Gaster put them in his hand. Though by the fifth his (loud, obnoxious) chewing had slowed down considerably and he could barely keep his eyes open. “ALRIGHT, YOU CAN HAVE THE REST LATER. YOU SHOULD REST NOW.”

“yer face shood rest,” was Sans’s brilliant retort.

“I‘VE BEEN TOLD I HAVE RESTING BITCH FACE.”

Sans gave a quiet bark of laughter, then slid across the wall to lay over the bench. His breathing quickly evened out, Gaster spent a moment wondering if he always fell asleep this quickly or if it was just from his injuries before shaking himself out of his thoughts and tending to his duties, the first of which was changing Sans’s bandages. Gaster was pleased to note that several of the small injuries were healed to the point of no longer needing wraps at all, including the missing tooth.

* * *

Sans woke quicker than Gaster expected, though with the way he seemed to only be in a light doze Gaster wasn’t surprised by this. Something else to be pleased about, Sans had progressed to the point that his usual sleep cycle was already reasserting itself. A pity the mind often recovered before the body, Gaster would simply have to be prepared to keep Sans occupied once that happened. Hopefully the novelty of meeting new people and learning new work skills would be enough.

“how long’s it been?” Sans croaked, voice still husky with sleep.

Gaster held up one hand for the abbreviated signs, “NOT LONG.” Then he remembered he didn’t need to sign and coughed to cover his embarrassment as he turned back to the medicines he was mixing. “NOT TWO HOURS YET, AT ANY RATE, WE HAVE A LITTLE TIME BEFORE HER MAJESTY RETURNS.”

“’kay, so any idea what she wants?”

“VERY LIKELY SHE WANTS TO KNOW WHERE YOU’RE FROM AND HOW YOU ENDED UP HERE. IF SHE DOESN’T I KNOW I’M CURIOUS, THE ONLY REASON I HAVEN’T ASKED YET IS I KNEW YOU’D HAVE TO TELL HER AND DIDN’T WANT YOU TO HAVE TO REPEAT IT AD NAUSEAM.”

“thanks, i ‘preciate it.”

They fell into a silence after that, Gaster too busy getting the latest mixture into its container to respond. He had to be quick to seal it up before the pastille he’d just made started dissolving.

“so uh… what’s queenie like?”

“LOUD,” Gaster said without thinking, deftly tucking the last corner of seaweed around a pastille, then he magically sealed it, turning the whole package into monster food that was safe from the water’s corrosive effects. “SHE DOES EVERYTHING WITH ALL HER STRENGTH, WHICH IS QUITE FORMIDABLE. SHE’S THE ONLY PERSON I KNOW WHO CAN PUT HER BACK INTO TALKING.”

Sans laughed at that, “yeah, she seemed like the type. kinda reminds me of my bro, actually: doesn’t do anything by halves.”

Gaster perked up at that, “YOU HAVE SIBLINGS?”

“jus’ the one. he’s so cool, puts his all into whatever he does. there’s nothing he can’t do. heh, he even thought he could save my sorry tail, he prob’ly thinks i’m dead.” Sans deflated at that, sinking into the bench.

Gaster wasn’t sure how to respond to that, he didn’t think telling Sans he’d brought it on himself by not accepting his brother’s help was the right thing to say. Well, Gaster wasn’t sure that was exactly what happened, but from what Sans had said so far it sounded like it. The silence dragged on, heavy and full of self loathing Gaster could feel even across the room.

“IT’S BETTER THIS WAY, ISN’T IT?” Gaster blurted out.

“better how?!” Sans snarled acidly.

“YOU’RE NOT DEAD, SO THERE’S STILL HOPE OF SEEING YOUR BROTHER AGAIN. THERE WOULDN’T BE IF YOU WERE ACTUALLY DEAD.”

Sans’s face relaxed from his snarl, going flat and neutral as his voice, “yeah, i guess so.”

They fell into a tense silence after that, though Gaster was too busy working to really pay it any mind. Gaster had just cut another small strip of seaweed and started wrapping the next pastille when Sans started speaking again, “think ya can find a way to get a message to him?”

“POSSIBLY,” Gaster said evasively, hoping his continued concentration on his task would be enough to explain his noncommittal tone. In all honesty he had no desire to find Sans’s brother. Ever. He would likely drag Sans back to wherever they came from and leave Gaster with nothing to show for all the effort he’d put into saving Sans’s life.

Fortunately Undyne showed up then to derail that entire train of thought. “Okay, it’s been two hours! Is he awake yet?”

“IT MOST CERTAINLY HAS NOT BEEN TWO HOURS!”

“it hasn’t, but i am anyway,” Sans replied tiredly, wriggling to sit up straighter.

“Good enough for me. Alright, nerd, time to get some introductions out of the way! I’m Undyne and I’m in charge around here.”

“sans,” Sans replied simply, smirking up at her.

“So what I wanna know is where you come from and how you got injured.”

“a’ight, simple enough. fer starters i'm not really from anywhere.”

Undyne huffed and rolled her eyes, “Yeah, _suuuuure_.”

“my bro an’ i don’t got a steady home, ain’t ever really had one neither. we just kinda wander around.” Sans shrugged at that, or attempted to but stopped short with a wince. “anyway, we mostly hung around this pack of sea dogs up near the surface. they liked us, we liked them, but we weren’t ever really parta their pack, ya know?”

“Alright, makes sense. And these injuries?”

“this fuckin’ overgrown dolphin!” Red spat out angrily, practically frothing at the mouth.

Undyne guffawed loudly at that, “A wussass **dolphin** did that to you?!”

“no, ya bitch! it was an orca, an’ they ain’t nothin’ but overgrown dolphins!”

“Wow, shit man! An orca’s no joke. No wonder you’re beat to hell and back!” Undyne started laughing again, Sans groused in his corner. “You survived though, that’s pretty damn awesome.”

“yeah, i sure did. but ya know what didn’t?”

“The orca?” Undyne asked gleefully, her jagged teeth on full display.

Sans grinned in agreement, his own razor sharp teeth on display, “the orca!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Work is hard, life is uncertain, I think I'm a little burnt out. Most of my free time is spent in "head empty, no thoughts" mode and no matter how easy rewrites are they still require more spoons than I have to spare. Hopefully with my hours going down a little and some of the stressors being taken care of I can get back to getting these chapters out soon. But once I'm caught up it uh... it's gonna start taking just as long as my other WiPs. >.>
> 
> Also: I'm not calling them killer whales, even if to sea life that would be a very accurate name. Also I don't have plans of bringing this one up again aside from Red talking vaguely about his ordeal.


End file.
